Crane-Crab War
From L5r: Legend of the Five Rings
| Crane-Crab War |
|---|
| Location: Kenkai Hanto |
| Date: 387-400 |
| Major Forces: Crane Clan, Crab Clan |
| Generals: Doji Mizhime, Hida Ichido |
| Battles of Rokugan |
The Crane-Crab War was the first internal war in Rokugan in three hundred years since the defeat of Fu Leng. The conflict is also sometimes referred to as the First Yasuki War since the second war over the allegiance of the Yasuki family in 1158.(Crab p. 24)
Contents |
[edit] Initial Conflicts
The Crane and Crab had both established settlements in the Kenkai Hanto Peninsula. Conflict was inevitable. The Crab claimed the Crane had no need for the land, and the Crane said the Crab were foolish to set up so far from the Shadowlands. (Crab p. 24)
[edit] Causes for War
Both the Crab Clan and the Crane Clan give conflicting theories of how the war started but Yasuki family dissatisfaction and border disputes over the Kenkai Hanto Peninsula were clearly the motivating factors. The overlooked factor was the gozoku who were a political consortium of Crane, Scorpion and Phoenix that exerted its power over the rule of two Hantei Emperors.
Hantei Fujiwa was looking for a weakness in the Crane Clan Champion, Doji Mizobu, because his son was a member of the gozoku. This weakness turned out to be the Yasuki. They had grown in economic influences but Mizobu kept them out of the courts for fear that they may become a power. Fujiwa believed that by using jealousy he could get Mizobu to drive a wedge between the Doji and Yasuki. He hoped that such a coup would not only weaken the gozoku but give Akodo Mitsuyuki enough courage to back him publicly.
During this time the Crab Clan attempted to distract Mizobu from the Emperor's maneuvers by threatening his borders by building fortresses ever closer to Kenkai Hanto Peninsula. The Crane became paranoid as the Lion became bold, as Mitsuyuki openly supported the Emperor in word an action. It seemed like the plan was going to work, but it all came to a halt when the Crab and Crane war exploded into open warfare and for the first time Rokugani fought Rokugani. All of Fujiwa attempts to resolve the issue made things worse and made him seem more incompetent.
When Fujiwa admitted defeat to the gozoku they ended the conflict in his name. At the end of the war many samurai of the Crane, Crab and Lion were made ronin and the names were documented by gozoku leader and emperor scribe Shiba Gaijushiko.
[edit] Escalation
The Lady Doji Mizhime asked the Emperor to settle the dispute. Lord Hida Ichido was not interested in the Emperor's opinion and launched an attack on the peninsula before the Crane had even spoken to the Emperor. Ichido quickly captured the entire peninsula, but Mizhime used the Crane's influences in the courts to cut the Crab off from their supplies. When the crab were low on food and munitions the Crane lauched a counter attack, easily forcing the Crab back out of the peninsula. (Crab p. 24)
[edit] Breakaway of the Yasuki
It was at this point that the Yasuki Daimyo Yasuki Tsanumi came to Ichido's aid. Mizhime demanded immediately that the Yasuki cease their operations with the Crab, but they refused, and since Lady Doji would not hear their argument the Yasuki decided to break away. The stranglehold on the Crab supplies was broken by the Yasuki and Ichido could again resume the attack on the peninsula, this time with even greater success than before. Before the conflict could escalate further the Emperor intervened and declared the peninsula to be split between the two clans. The Yasuki could not return to the Crane at this point so Ichido willingly accepted the Yasuki into the Crab as they sorely needed liasons to the other clans. (Crab p. 24)
[edit] Imperial Edicts
When the war ended in 400, the Emperor issued an Imperial edict banning large-scale open warfare among the Great Clans. The moritorium on open warfare lasted over seven centuries until the Scorpion Coup and Clan War. Although after the Clan War the edict was largely assumed to be back in force once more, the Unicorn Clan eventually claimed they were exempt, as their Clan was not present in Rokugan in the fourth century, and they were not listed in the edict. This gave the Unicorn the leeway they needed to initiate the War of the Rich Frog in 1165. (3E p. 12,26)
The sources relating to this article are in conflict with each other. |
| Though the beginning of the Crab-Crane War is fairly universally established as 387, the end date is more fluid. Although Third Edition places the end of the war in 400 (p. 12), Bells of the Dead, apparently the first book to give a date for the end of the war, places the conflict from 387-398 (p. 7). |
[edit] Major References
- Way of the Wolf Pages 25-27.
